The ancient Romans knew it!

Copper - the best coin material

Copper has historically been the material of choice for coins. It played a significant role when the material for the euro coins was chosen. It had the ability to preserve the visual appearance and longevity of coins in everyday use. In addition, copper had other important properties as well, which supported its use for the new monetary unit: copper has anti-bacterial properties and can be recycled over and over again.

The antibacterial characteristics of copper prevent bacteria in spreading in daily use of coins. Copper also serves the principles of Sustainable development, because it can be recycled without loosing its valuable properties. Additinally, copper’s superior electrical conductivity will facilitate the recognition of the various coins in vending machines across Europe, thus minimising the risk of fraud.

On January 1st, 2002 Euro became the official currency for 12 European countries. At that time 52 billion new coins were issued for the start up.

All the 10, 20 and 50 Euro cents are of a copper alloy named Nordic Gold. This alloy was the result of several years’ development process executed at the Research and Development unit at Outokumpu Copper in Västerås, Sweden (nowadays Luvata). Most European copper fabricators were involved in the manufacture of the Euro coin blanks at that time.

The smaller denomination of one, two and five cent has been made of copper-covered steel. The one and two euro coins have inner and outer rings made of nickel-brass and copper alloys.